


An Assassin's Emotions

by Poyomon2



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Childhood Friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-06-10 03:03:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15282168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poyomon2/pseuds/Poyomon2
Summary: Yusaku was one of the best. However, not even the best could cut off their own emotions.





	An Assassin's Emotions

**Author's Note:**

> Submission for vrains week day 5!  
> Going to be honest towards the end I was kind of floundering. I wasn't really sure where to end it.

His target was the princess. Yusaku stared up at the walls of the palace from his hiding place, silently judging the best way to infiltrate the ornate building. Two guards stood by each door, so he would likely need to use a window if he wanted to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. 

He wanted to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. Killing anyone other than your target was frowned upon, something that would show off an assassin’s inexperience in their line of work.

Yusaku was anything but inexperienced. He was one of the best. That was why he’d been entrusted with this job.

He rummaged through the kit attached to the belt on his waist, pulling out a set of claw-like gloves, which he slipped on with practiced ease. They were used to reduce the difficulty of scaling walls like these, giving their wearer the capability of making their own handholds with enough effort.

He made his move. Quickly, quietly, he crossed the courtyard, reaching the wall in seconds. He began to ascend, swarming up the wall with fluid movements and reaching a window that had been carelessly left open. He slipped in, leaving the window open as a possible exit route. Or an escape route, in case the mission went south.

It was dark inside. This only worked to his advantage, as to the untrained eye, he seemed to melt into the shadows, taking quiet, unseen steps through the halls as he made his way towards the princess’ bedroom. It was past midnight, so she would surely be asleep.

It was a slow process. Each time he reached a corner, he had to listen for the footsteps of any possible patrols, then cautiously look around it just in case there was a standing guard. Enduring the tedium was one of the first things he had been taught when he was taken in. There were hundreds upon hundreds of stories of assassins who failed their missions, simply because they had skipped just one instance of the procedure, running head first into a guard.

Few of them survived the process. Those that did received a harsh lesson and never did it again.

It took over half an hour, but he finally reached the princess’ room. However, he didn’t drop his guard. This was the most important part. The mission was never over until the target had been dispatched and the assassin had escaped. Preferably, it would be done unseen.

He opened the door with unparalleled caution. There could be any number of variables to deal with. Thankfully, the door swung open in silence, but as he stepped in, he stopped in place.

The princess was awake. She was staring out the window, looking at the stars without making a sound. Her back was facing toward him, so he tentatively took another step, careful not to disturb anything else.

A floorboard creaked, catching the girl’s attention, so he internally swore and dashed forward, drawing his dagger and trading stealth for unexpectedness.

She turned around as he drew closer. “Who’s there?”

In the blink of an eye, he was upon her, the tip of his dagger piercing her chest.

Then he abruptly stopped, wide-eyed, as he saw her face and a memory suddenly brought itself to the forefront of his mind.

\---

“Are you okay?”

A girl’s voice chimed, and Yusaku looked at her from where he laid in the dusty alley, rolled up in an old, flea-ridden blanket. She was about the same age as him, dressed in a simple shirt and some shorts.

He coughed, turning away and ignoring her.

A hand appeared in front of his eyes, and he blinked, surprised.

“I’m Aoi! What’s your name?”

“Go away.”

The hand pulled at his blanket, and it ripped from the force, finally giving up after having been used for so long.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” The note of sadness in the girl’s voice finally made him pay attention to her, and she grabbed his hand, pulling him unwillingly to his feet. “Let’s go and get you a new one!”

\---

Yusaku reeled back, trembling. He stared at the dagger in his hands. There was a drop of blood on the end of the blade, and his breaths became shorter, quicker, as it slipped from his grasp.

He looked back at the princess’ face, hoping against hope that it wasn’t actually her. Hoping that he was wrong.

But it was. Aoi stared at him, her own eyes wide in surprise and recognition. “Yusaku?”

It was the final blow to his mind. He ripped his gaze from her, frantically looking around the room before rushing to the window, throwing it open and catapulting out into the darkness.

He hit the ground hard, a lance of pain shooting through him as he unsteadily got to his feet, shooting one last glance at the window he’d jumped from before running as fast as he could, away from the palace. Away from her.

The memories kept flooding in, tears falling from his eyes as he ran.

\---

“Yusaku! There you are, I was looking all over for you!” Her face popped out in front of him, smiling brightly.

“Aoi…” Yusaku shuffled back, still unused to being so close to another person. He reached into his pocket, bringing out a bracelet of small beads. “I, uh, got this for you…”

Aoi's eyes lit up, taking it carefully from his hands with unconcealed delight. “This is so cute! Where did you get it from?”

Yusaku looked away from her guiltily.

She frowned at the action. “Yusaku, did you steal this?”

His eyes teared up. “I wanted to get something for you, but I didn't have anything to pay for it!”

A pair of arms embraced him. “It's okay.” She drew back, forcing him to face her. “Where did you steal it from? We’ll go and pay for it.”

\---

The door slammed open and Yusaku walked in with heavy footsteps and a downcast look. He was half-conscious of Ema raising her head from where she was looking at a set of contracts.

“You’re back. How did it go?”

He ignored her, choosing to instead head down the halls of their hideout towards his room.

Closing the door behind him, he pulled out the contract paper for the job, laying it on his desk and staring at it. Tears welled up in his eyes, dripping onto both the paper and the desk, and he raised his hand to hold his throat, choking.

A knock sounded at his door. “Yusaku? Are you okay?” Ema’s concerned voice came through, but it only made him feel worse.

He coughed, trying to find the words to make her go away, but the door opened and she came through.

“What happened? Did the job go badly?”

“I’m sorry.” He sobbed, whispering quietly. “I was so close, but I couldn’t do it.”

A hand rubbed his back softly. “It’s okay, Yusaku. Everyone fails occasionally. It’s not your first time failing a job, right? There’s no need to cry about it.”

He shook his head in denial. “No, I’m not crying because I failed.” He took a deep breath. “I almost did it. I almost killed her.”

Ema’s soft, calm voice reached out, embracing him. “Then what happened? It’s not like you to fail a job at the last moment.”

“I can’t kill her.” He clenched his fists. “I can’t kill… Aoi. She was… She was the only person before you who ever reached out to me. She’s the only reason I’m still alive. There’s no way I can kill her.”

Ema gasped. “I’m sorry, Yusaku. I didn’t know. If you want, we can drop the contract. Maybe you should protect her yourself? If we drop the contract now, another assassin, who has no qualms with killing her, will go after her.”

“I can’t. She saw my face. She recognised me! She probably hates me now. I tried to kill her!”

“You don’t know that.” Ema blinked. “Where’s your dagger? Did you drop it?”

He coughed again. “I left it behind. I wasn’t focusing, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. I’ll go and get it for you.”

Before Yusaku could even think to respond, Ema was gone.

\---

Aoi stared at the dagger in her hands. Was that assassin really Yusaku? Why had he gone after her? Thoughts swirled through her head as she thought about the night’s events.

She blinked. The dagger was gone, as if it had just vanished.

She looked up, and started at the unfamiliar presence in the room. However, she recognised the face. “You’re Ghost Girl!”

Ema raised an eyebrow. “Oh? You know of me?”

“Everyone knows of you. You’re wanted everywhere, but they rescinded the bounty because they know they’ll never be able to catch you.” Her eyes sharpened, glaring at the woman. “What do you want with me? An assassination contract?”

Ema hummed. “Not anymore, it seems. I heard you had my apprentice’s dagger, so I came to pick it up for him.” She looked at the blade, where the blood had dried on the tip. “Oh, he really did almost kill you, didn’t he? A shame. That would have been a decent chunk of funds.”

Aoi started. “You know Yusaku?”

Ema smiled. “Trained him myself. Apparently you two were friends before I picked him up. How did that happen?”

Aoi looked away in embarrassment. “I used to sneak out often as a child, when my brother was busy with working. I knew Yusaku for about two years, but then he disappeared and I was so worried! I’m glad he seems to be doing okay, now.”

Ema had a thoughtful look on her face. “You’re not angry he tried to kill you?”

“Of course not! We’re friends, and he stopped trying to kill me the moment he realised who I was, after all. How could I be angry at him?”

“How would you like to hire him as a personal guard? If we drop the contract, you’ll probably have other assassins after you who won’t have any problems with killing you for some quick money.”

Aoi sucked in a cold breath of air. “You would do that?”

Ema nodded. “Leave your window open.”

Then she was gone. Aoi didn’t even see her move. She was just gone.

It was a long time before she re-appeared, seemingly from thin air, standing in the middle of the room. Seconds later, another figure climbed in through the window, moving to stand behind her. Yusaku’s face was tearstained, and he rubbed his eyes, not believing what he was seeing.

“Yusaku?” Aoi stepped forward, reaching out a hand towards him.

“Aoi.” He shuffled on the spot, not making a move towards her.

Aoi rushed forward, tackling him in a hug. “Yusaku!”

He hesitated, then raised his arms to embrace her in turn.

Tears sprang from Aoi’s eyes. “I missed you so much. I was so worried about you.”

“You’re not angry?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m just happy you’re okay.”

A chuckle escaped Ema, and both of the teenagers went red. “You two look so cute like that.”


End file.
